1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to optical transport networks and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for providing a control plane across multiple optical network domains.
2. Description of the Related Art
Traditionally, transport networks are managed by centralized management systems, which receive connection requests, perform path selection, and establish connections through transport network elements. Recently, the intelligence for transport network functions, such as topology and resource discovery, automated connection provisioning, and failure recovery, are being moved into the network elements through the emergence of distributed transport control planes. Control plane standards that extend signaling protocols from packet networks are being developed. The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) has extended Internet Protocol (IP)-based protocols used in the Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) control plane to define Generalized Multi-Protocol Label Switching (GMPLS).
Standards development, however, has lagged vendor implementations, resulting in network operators deploying sub-networks running vendor-specific control planes that do not inter-work. In addition, company mergers and the associated network management integration complexities, scalability concerns, as well as other economic factors have led to transport networks that often consist of several control islands referred to as control domains (CDs). A control domain is a sub-network in which all network nodes run a common control plane. A given transport network may include several control domains, each of which implements different control plane signaling and routing protocols. Accordingly, there exists a need in the art for a method and apparatus for providing a control plane across multiple optical network domains.